Relationship between socioeconomic status and metabolic syndrome among Nigerian adults

The study determined the diastolic and systolic pressure, anthropometric parameters, serological parameters comprising fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as well as the socio-economic status (SES) of inhabitants of Ilora with a view to providing information on impact of SES on metabolic syndrome (MetS). One hundred participants (54 males and 46 females) whose ages ranged from 30 and 70 years, participated in the study. Participants were recruited from the three wards of the town using multi-stage random sampling procedure. Subjects' weights, height, blood pressure, waist circumference (WC) were measured using standard instruments. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was measured using a glucometer on participants' blood samples taken after at least 8h of fasting. Serum triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were analyzed using enzyme colometric assay kits in the laboratory. SES of the participants was determined by using a questionnaire, which sought information on annual income, occupation and education. Participants who had MetS were determined using the new International Diabetes Foundation definition of MetS. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The mean scores for the males and females systolic blood pressure (SBP) were 123.20 ± 20.72 mmHg and 117.78 ± 14.64 mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP), 78.63 ± 11.72 mmHg and 75.98 ± 13.06 mmHg, respectively. The mean of serological variables scores for the males and females, respectively, were FBG (4.95 ± 0.81 mmol/L and 4.84 ± 1.36 mmol/L), TG (1.28 ± 0.75 mmol/L and 1.35 ± 1.05 mmol/L), HDL-C (1.26 ± 0.21 mmol/L and 2.32 ± 7.34 mmol/L). The mean SES scores for the males and females were 14.35 ± 4.75 and 13.13 ± 4.66, respectively. The prevalence of MetS was 43.5% in females and 9.3% in males. Significant differences were found in SBP and FBG across the three SES groups (F=3.148 and 3.862, respectively, p<0.05). The high SES group was found to have significantly higher SBP and FBG than the low and middle SES groups. There were significant correlations between SES scores and SBP (r=0.255; p<0.05), FBG (r=0.270; p<0.01), and BMI (r=0.210; p<0.05). Also, significant relationships were found between weight and TG (r=0.282; p<0.05), waist circumference (WC) and FBG (r=0.264; p<0.05), and WC and TG (r=0.414; p<0.01). The study concluded that SES has significant relationship with metabolic syndrome components such as SBP and fasting blood glucose among adult population in Nigeria.